Back when PlayGroundology was a baby in early 2010, I ran across a great Facebook page called, I played at Dennis the Menace Park and lived! The intrigue was too much for me to resist. I quickly got in touch with page administrator and creator, Daniel Annereau to find out more about one of America’s first ‘extreme’ playgrounds. You can read that story here.
Imagine my excitement yesterday when I came across this film footage featuring the ‘helicopter’ ride, aka spinny thing of death. The 36 second clip starts pretty innocuously but the last 10 seconds or so pack a real punch with risky behaviour galore.
This is the playground that I would have loved to visit as a kid. I can imagine myself hanging upside down although I’m not sure I would have had the guts of the upside downer kid in the film.
Dennis the Menace Park in Monterey, California was an early example of a destination playground. Designer Arch Garner outdid himself on this project conceived by Dennis creator Hank Ketchum. Kids couldn’t get enough of it and who could blame them.
Love the footage! And yes, we girls did wear dresses to the playground! In fact, at school we only wore pants under our skirts in bad weather!
I love coming across little gems like this. They’re not just nostalgic. They can serve as a reality check too. Let me know if you ever come across any beauties like this that you’d care to share. Thanks Rita.
Thank you so much for posting this clip! I spent many hours playing on this playground back in the late 60′s and early 70′s! Wonderful childhood memories. And to think that we survived the playground equipment! Kids these days have no idea how to really play!!!
Thank,
Sharon
Sharon, glad you enjoyed the clip. This is one playground I would have loved to have tried out out when I was a kid. It just looks like so much adventure and fun wrapped into one. You were sooooooooooo lucky. Tell your friends about PlayGroundology. Cheers